Bush : U.S. Must Stay In Iraq To Control Oil
And Protect Israel
Bush tells Rush he's 'deeply concerned' about the US leaving the
Middle East
By Raw Story
11/02/06 "Raw Story" -- -- During an interview with conservative
pundit Rush Limbaugh, US President George Bush expressed deep
concerns about the possibility of the United States leaving the
Middle East, raising fears that extremists could topple
governments to "control oil resources."
"Give me a second here, Rush, because I want to share something
with you," Bush said. "I am deeply concerned about a country,
the United States, leaving the Middle East."
Bush said that he was "worried that rival forms of extremists
will battle for power, obviously creating incredible damage if
they do so; that they will topple modern governments, that they
will be in a position to use oil as a tool to blackmail the
West."
"People say, 'What do you mean by that?'" The president
continued. "I say, 'If they control oil resources, then they
pull oil off the market in order to run the price up, and they
will do so unless we abandon Israel, for example, or unless we
abandon allies.'"
"You couple that with a country that doesn't like us with a
nuclear weapon, and people will look back at this moment and
say, 'What happened to those people in 2006?' and those are the
stakes in this war we face," Bush said.
"On the one hand we've got a plan to make sure we protect you
from immediate attack, and on the other hand we've got a
long-term strategy to deal with these threats, and part of that
strategy is to stay on the offense," Bush continued. "Part of
the strategy is to help young democracies like Lebanon and Iraq
be able to survive against the terrorists and the extremists who
are trying to crush their hopes, and part of the democracy is
for a freedom movement, which will help create the conditions so
that the extremists become marginalized and unable to recruit."
Limbaugh called Bush's comments "extremely visionary."
A transcript, as well as audio of the Bush interview can be
found at
Limbaugh's Website
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